Autumn Visitor
While writing the last post, I let my dog, Monroe, out through this glassed-in area adjacent to the living room. This area is a poorly-constructed “greenhouse” made by the previous owner. I leave the outer door open because it makes no difference whether it is open or closed, in relation to heat.
When I let Monroe out, I heard this fluttering and looked up to see the shadow of what I thought may be a Hummingbird Moth, considering how much noise it was making, stuck between the wispy curtain and the glass…but Hummingbird Moths wouldn’t be around this time of year since they have a specific purpose that is way before this. So, I pulled back the curtain and found this trying its utmost to get through the glass.

I put my hand up to direct towards the more open area of glass, which I was able to do, and with a bit of determination, tried to direct it further toward the door out. Instead, it landed on my hand for a moment, looked at me, then lit out for the glass…and then behind the curtain again. Not to be put off easily, I made another attempt to move it back toward the open glass and door again. Although I was able to direct it, I also managed to delay it somehow and it plummeted rather abruptly. Climbing back onto my hand, it took a rest there. And remained there for the duration of the rest of this occurrence.

As always, I had my more portable camera in my pocket, so I started taking close-ups of it. It didn’t seem to mind one bit and actually seemed to pose for me, walking around on my hand.
In the photo above, you can see that it has 2 white furry things sticking out in front of it. I don’t know what these are called….nor do I know whether this is a moth or butterfly. Buzzybeegirl will know….and when I find out, I’ll post what she says here as an update to the post. In any case, it made a great deal of effort to work on both of these white furry things…then the one on the left began to hang down, more and more, as can be seen in this photo…

As many of you who have seen my previous entries here, you know that I like to “bend” the parameters of what I am doing. By “bending” it, of course, I mean putting it through whatever filters or processes that are unique to me and, more often than not, discovered “by accident.” My “electric” photography is one way I bend it and the twists I make are catching the eyes of those who have never quite seen anything like it before. Electrifying my work always gives me a bit of a charge in the process (pun intended)….and in that process, I look for even more ways to change it. For instance, I am interested in HDR and have put a few up of those but have backed off a bit in favor of others whose work speaks for itself and makes me wonder “WHOA! how does he do that!” but I keep at it. Doing it is better than the alternative. I’ll put some more up when I feel a bit more confident about the process.

In my never-ending search to tweak my photography, I find myself going back into my archives of work that I have shot in the past. That is, anything from a few months ago….to a few years ago. Case in point: last year, I spent the weekend at a friend’s property in the mountains southwest of Ft. Collins, Colorado. This place, Shoshoko, is the most wonderful spot that is within striking distance for me (as opposed to, for instance Pt. Lobos, near Monterey CA, which is, frankly, Heaven on Earth for me, and is also 1200 miles away); I get up to Shoshoko as often as I can. Last September while there, I took this photograph:

A couple of weeks ago, I went back up to Timnath again and spent the bulk of the day with Ann. My intent was to take photographs of her horse, Galen, but the photographs turned out including so many other horses where Galen is boarded. I know virtually nothing about horses other than the fact that they are gorgeous creatures to photograph. I know a bit more now but I still have a lot to learn.

Galen and Ann

Ann explained Galen’s lineage but, for the life of me, I can’t remember all of the names and places his lineage runs back to, all I can tell you is that he has one impressive set of fathers, grandfathers, and great-grandfathers. (See Ann’s explanation in the comment to the post, below; for those of you who know horse lineage, I’m sure it would be as much of a treat to read as it was to hear her tell it!)Continue reading →